Abstract

This paper uses data from
Italian Serie A football to
analyse
the
technical efficiency of
Italian football clubs
,
utilising a panel dataset comprising season aggregated
match
statistics
over ten seasons from 2000/01 to 2009/10
inclusive
.
While there has been
considerable
research on production and efficiency in
most of
the
major European football
leagues
, corresponding evidence relating to Serie A is limited.
T
his paper
addresses this
imbalance
,
e
stimating a production function for the
league and the relative efficiency of
36
teams
,
taking into consideration
the impact of
the Calciopoli corruption scan
dal
in 2006
.
To
achieve this
,
Da
ta Envelopment Analysis (DEA)
models ha
ve been used to calculate the
frontiers of efficient production.
The results highlight
how playing style has changed in
response to the corruption scandal
,
emphasizing
the importance
of attacking play in Serie
A.